Hegseth's fight against Kelly moves into untested legal waters
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is forgoing a promised court-martialing and taking a behind-closed-doors track to attempt to punish Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
The administrative move which seeks to reduce Kellys retirement rank and military pension is the latest in the bitter back-and-forth between the Trump administration and the retired Navy captain after he joined five other Democratic lawmakers in a November video reminding service members that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders.
While Hegseth is taking Kelly into uncharted legal waters, using an action typically meant to scrutinize service members active-duty conduct, a Pentagon packed with President Trump loyalists could unfairly tip the scales against the Arizona Democrat, according to military law experts.
The bottom line is, this is not lawful, Rachel VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former judge advocate, said of Hegseths bid to reduce Kellys rank under the military code. Its just never been done.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/hegseth-fight-against-kelly-moves-110000926.html